Volume 26

On Friday 15 April at 10.00 pm the new Malagueña Monument was opened in Álora in the presence of the local community.

After the inauguration of the Theatre Cervantes, it is the second important act to take place in Álora before the Day of the County on 26 April.

The sculpture is the work of Miguel García Dales and is to commemorate the Malagueña style of flamenco.

The theatre and the monument have greatly enhanced the entrance to the town via Calle Carmona for residents and visitors.

Commemoration of Don Quixote

Throughout April, Álora will be commemorating the 400th anniversary of Don Quixote with cultural activities for everyone.

On 23 April 2005 there will be a Book Fair in the park opposite the Casa de Cultura with various stands and booksellers.

The Rocket Festival Antequera

The Rocket Festival runs from the Friday (29/4) to the Sunday (1/5) and "is a three day festival of contemporary and traditional music, performance and sculpture set in a beautiful site in the heart of Andalucia in the deep south of Spain. Local artists, performers and crew are working with guests from across Europe to create a truly international festival with a strong Andalucian influence.

The ethos of the festival is to bring together as diverse a range of entertainment as possible. Artists from Malaga, Granada and Antequera will share a stage with artists from Britain, Austria, France and elsewhere in Europe.

Musical styles will vary from traditional and modern Andalucian music through blues, jazz, rock, reggae to the best live dance music and DJs. The main stage powered by the Innerfield Sound system hosts a wide variety of local and international bands.

The Dance Tent powered by Turbozone features DJs and Live Acts from Spain, England and the rest of Europe playing Breakbeat, Drum and Bass, House and Techno.

A strong focus is placed on traditional and modern circus and performance with demonstrations and skills workshops for people of all ages.

Look out for the spectacular 21st century sculptures in the arts and crafts area - workshops for young and old alike are available to learn some new skills.

The Rocket Festival is open to people of all ages. A lively kids area is provided to keep the young ones entertained with the skateboard ramp and BMX track in the Extreme Area for the older and more adventurous.

The site of the festival is a tranquil valley 15km from Antequera below the stunning Sierra De Camorolos mountain range. The site has excellent access via the A45 Malaga – Cordoba motorway with regular cheap flights to Malaga from all over Europe.

A key objective for the festival is to promote the importance of nature and the environment and this has been a big influence on the choice of venue. Through the festival and our approach to recycling the festival aims to increase ecological awareness and respect for our surroundings within the community.

Tourism Campaign

A new campaign launched by the Junta de Andalucía is aimed at convincing professionals and the public in general that it is in everyone’s interest to be nice to tourists. Between April 15th and May 15th advertisements in the press, on the radio and television will remind local people that a smile is the best memory a holiday-maker can take home.

Valencian Land Laws Unconstitutional Say The European Commission

The EC has threatened to sanction Spain because of the controversial land laws of the Valencian regional government. They claim that the LRAU fail to respect European Community Law governing procedures that should be used when giving public contracts for major urban developments.

The EC criticises the fact that the Valencian regional and municipal authorities do not publish tenders in the Official state bulletin (where all state tenders, nominations, exam results etc. must be published) or in the Official European Journal which publishes all public tenders held in member states.

The European Commission has sent the Spanish government a 13 page report explaining its verdict and has given authorities 2 months to respond. Meanwhile, the regional Valencian Territorial Department released a statement yesterday saying that the EC report confirmed the need to design a new urban law which the Spanish say they have been working on for the past few months

Spain to Return Catalan Documents

The Spanish government says it will return thousands of official documents to the autonomous region of Cataloniathat were seized after the civil war.

More than 300,000 files and 1,000 photographs were taken by Francisco Franco's nationalist forces in 1940.

Catalonian officials have campaigned for the return of the documents for more than 20 years.

The documents were stored in a military library in the north-western city of Salamanca, following Spain's 1936-39 civil war, won by Franco's forces.

They include personal letters, files and a record of anti-Franco propaganda that were compiled by Catalan unions, political parties and regional government authorities.

"This will put an end to an illegitimate state of affairs," Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega said.

Many People Hurt As Lightning Strikes Huesca Grain Silo

More than 18 people were injured in an explosion at a grain silo in Northern Spain caused by lightning.

Javier Fernandez, an Official who visited the scene, said witnesses reported seeing a bolt of lightning strike the silo at a flour factory near the town.

The blast also shattered windows and damaged cars near the factory, where approximately 20 people worked.

Four of the injured suffered serious burns, the remainder were treated for various ailments.

Switching to The Mediterranean Diet Would Add A Year to Lifespan

Following a "Mediterranean diet" will give people an extra year of life, according to a study of 74,000 older men and women across Europe.

The study in BMJ Online First, which had 10,000 British participants, analysed the diets of those over 60.

Increased life expectancy was linked to a diet high in vegetables, legumes (peas, beans and lentils), fruit, cereals and fish.

The healthiest diet was low in saturated animal fats but high in unsaturated fats like olive oil. It was also low in dairy products and meat but included a modest amount of alcohol. In the sample this was usually wine.

On Thursday the European Commission authorised more than 26 million Euros in grants to boost Spanish investment in broadband communications in rural areas.

"The measure will improve the availability of access to high-speed communication services for citizens and business in under served regions of Spain," a spokesman said.

"This scheme aims at correcting the digital divide between communities and businesses which can get affordable access to broadband services and those who cannot," the EC said.

There will be measures put in place to ensure that state aid amounts will be kept at a minimum and safeguarded to avoid distorted competition.

Spain Now Exports Caviar

Some of the world's best caviar comes from Granada, according to experts who compare it with Russian beluga.

According to many, caviar from the Rio Frio area in Granada province, is even better than that found in the Caspian Sea.

The Spanish variety can be served within two weeks of extraction, compared with 12 months it generally takes Russian caviar to arrive in European markets.

Spokesman Rodriguez said fish farms are "the only way" for sturgeon to survive the commercial tidal wave of demand that has decimated them in the few regions of the world where they naturally abounded.

He said 85 percent of the caviar consumed worldwide now comes from such farms. We have people who go underwater to calm the females and pet them, because if they feel attacked they could destroy the eggs

The price of caviar has not always been so high, in the 19th century, fish roe were so prolific that innkeepers served it as bar snacks because it was cheaper than peanuts.

It was the Czars of Russia who introduced this poor man's treat to the Parisian aristocracy in the late 1800s, and it has been associated with luxury and sophistication ever since.

Spain Goes Further Into The Red As Imports Mount

Spain's current account deficit widened in January to 4.15 billion Euros the Bank of Spain said. The balance of payments on the current account is the main measure of the difference between all transaction flows into and out of a country.

The Spanish central bank said in a statement that the trade deficit had widened to 4.67 billion from 2.98 billion in January 2004, reflecting a strong increase in imports, up 13.1 percent on the year. Growth in exports marked a substantial slowdown, rising by just 1.1 percent, the surplus in services widened to 1.43 billion from 1.29 billion.

The surplus in tourism remained virtually unchanged at 1.59 billion, compared with 1.58 billion a year earlier.

Mobile Phone To Have Even More Uses?

Motorola in a partnership with Apple, will soon launch a cell phone that works with the Apple iTunes service.

Motorola plans to test the service in several American markets in mid May and launch nationwide in the fourth quarter.

They will start selling the iRadio service at retailers, but are also in talks with auto companies, who may eventually install iRadio in luxury cars, similar to arrangements that satellite radio providers have.

Try, Try Again

But do it 272 times? Seo Sang-moon passed the theory section of his driver's license examination on his 272nd attempt earlier this week.

The 70 years old repairman, from a small town in South Korea said he was illiterate and used the test process to teach himself the rules of the road because he could not read them in a manual.

Since the oral exam was launched, Seo took the test as often as he could, costing him around $1,000 in fees along the way. Each failure taught him a little more, and after 271 attempts, he was able to get the minimum score needed to pass the academic test.

Test officials were thrilled (and relieved maybe) to see him pass.

"He has been coming here for more than five years and we regard him almost as being one of the family," an official from the exam office said.

Now he faces the choice of which car to buy.

Valencia 2 - Málaga 2

Duda scores a late goal for Málaga in a hard fought game to secure a draw against current champions Valencia.

Malaga’s game this Sunday is away to Albacete, kick-off at 17.00 hrs.

FIA Not impressed with Majority of F1 Teams

The FIA is determined to press ahead with plans for the future of Formula 1 with or without the input of all of the competing teams at its latest meeting in Paris on Friday.

All of the manufacturers teams stayed away ,but Red Bull Racing and Jordan joined Ferrari.

The FIA issued a timetable for the formulation and ratification of the next set of technical regulations.

The previous meeting in January was boycotted by all the teams except Ferrari, prompting Minardi boss Paul Stoddart to deride Friday’s meeting as "tea and biscuits" between Max Mosley and Ferrari’s Jean Todt.

The gap between the GPWC-aligned teams on the one hand and the governing body on the other seems no closer to being closed.

Golf

The Spanish Open, which is part of the PGA European Tour, is taking place this weekend at the San Roque Golf Club in the province of Cadiz.

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